After you’ve created a beautiful European skull mount, you want to keep it clean and flawless-looking. Fortunately, if the mount was cleaned properly, bleached, and given a protective coating when it was made, this will be extremely easy.

Mounts that were given a protective polyurethane or acrylic spray coat are a breeze to keep clean. A simple dusting now and then should suffice, though care should be taken to be gentle, so no teeth or horns are knocked loose, and no bones get chipped. Feather dusters and other gentle, minimal-contact dusters are the best for keeping skull mounts dust free, without having to worry about any further damage. If the mount was not given a protective coat, it should be cleaned thoroughly and given one.

If a skull mount ever gets to the point where it requires further cleaning, a damp rag is the best way to do it. Protective coatings can prevent staining, and any cleaning after the coating is applied needs to ensure that it isn’t accidentally stripped off. Rubbing alcohol, acetone, solvents, or some detergents can cause yellowing, clouding, chipping, softening, or even stripping of the protective layer, so they shouldn’t ever be used. A soft, lint-free cloth barely dampened with some clean water is all that should be used, and care should be taken that the skull is allowed to dry out completely afterwards, to avoid mold, mildew, or insects.

Small spaces between teeth and in small skull cavities can be cleaned using artist’s brushes, pipe cleaners, and the canned air dispensers used for keyboards. These areas shouldn’t be allowed to get wet, so a skull shouldn’t ever be immersed, but these tools can all be used to get into tiny spaces and crevices without using any water. Artist’s brushes come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and materials suitable for different parts of a skull, however pipe cleaners have the advantage of being able to be bent into different configurations for cleaning inside long cavities and around corners. However, care should be taken that the hard, wire core of the pipe cleaners isn’t allowed to scratch the skull’s coating, or chip small pieces of bone off.

If any teeth are loose, these can be repaired after dusting with a little bit of carefully applied super glue. Fit the tooth in its socket, remove it, add a small amount of glue, replace the tooth, and let it dry completely. Make sure the brand of glue dries clear, and is guaranteed not to yellow over time. That way, if any glue accidentally makes its way somewhere visible, it won’t be noticeable and detract from the appearance of the skull mount.

European skull mounts are one of the easiest trophies to create and maintain, making them a popular choice for beginners. However, just because they’re easy to take care of doesn’t make them maintenance-free, but with a little common sense care, even an antique skull mount can look just as good as the day it was prepared.

Even though a preserved hide has had all of the muscle removed from it, been treated, dried, glued, and mounted, that doesn’t mean that something won’t still try to eat it. Moths, dermestid beetles, and cockroaches commonly infest mounted trophies for various reasons, and can ruin even the best taxidermy mount.

Moths and certain types of beetles can infest woolen clothing in closets, because their larvae enjoy eating the keratinized proteins in hair shafts. Once a hide is mounted, the hair and fur of that animal become a potential moth buffet. While adult moths and beetles aren’t really an issue, the sight of them is probably the first clue that an infestation has occurred. After the larvae get their teeth into mounted animal, bald patches, tracks, and broken hairs will start to become noticeable. Unfortunately, unlike dust or fading, there really isn’t a way to fix that. Methods of handling moth or beetle larvae include temporarily freezing mounts, fumigating rooms, or using special sprays or other chemicals to treat trophies. However, these will only get rid of the larvae; they can’t restore the look of your trophies. Cedar chips, mothballs, and Epsom salts can be used as preventatives, but all have their own limitations.

Though usually associated with cleaning skulls and bones for mounting, dermestid beetles are opportunistic feeders that will move on whatever’s next once the meat is gone. This can include wool clothing, fur coats, or mounted trophies. Signs of an infestation include shed beetle shells, crawling larvae, and signs of damage on mounted trophies. Because dermestid eggs are extremely durable, getting rid of an infestation can be a problem. Boric acid is useful for dehydrating beetle eggs and larvae and causing them to die; while frequent vacuuming can help get rid of larvae, beetles, and eggs. Preventing dermestid beetle infestations mostly consists of keeping a close eye out for the kinds of things they like to eat, and removing any adult beetles before they have a chance to lay eggs.

Cockroaches are opportunistic feeders that will eat fur, glue, and everything in between. Unfortunately, seeing them on or near your trophies (particularly in the light) generally indicates a wide-spread infestation, and the only solution might be to seek professional help. Many roach sprays will damage trophies, so removing bugs manually, sprinkling boric acid around the areas roaches frequent, and fumigating the house as a whole, might be the only viable alternative. Preventing roaches mostly consists of keeping the house clean, fixing water leaks, and keeping any food items in secure, airtight packaging.
Unfortunately, once a mounted trophy has been damaged by infestation, all that can often be done is to prevent further damage. By keeping your home and the room your trophies are kept in clean and inhospitable to bugs, however, you can help keep your trophies in flawless, undamaged condition.

Simply because a hide has been preserved and mounted doesn’t mean that it won’t require any further care. While trophies that exhibit better quality work tend to not require as much maintenance as those with careless or shoddy workmanship, all trophies will eventually need to be taken care of, and possibly even refurbished. However, by taking into account the kinds of things that can cause a trophy to degrade over time, it’s possible to avoid most common types of damage.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so the best way to take care of your trophy is to keep it from needing any extra maintenance in the first place. Keeping mounts in climate controlled areas, away from dampness, and out of sunlight will go far in preserving the integrity of the hide, the hair, and the coloring. Cool, dry places away from light are the best places for trophies. Excessive dampness can lead to mold and mildew, while overly hot, dry conditions can desiccate the hide and cause it to crack or split. Dust and skin oils will discolor fur or hair, so mounted animals should be given frequent gentle dusting, and not touched more than absolutely necessary. While discoloration won’t actually damage the hair, it will make it look dirty, and it can be very, very difficult, if not completely impossible, to remove. Dirty hides don’t look realistic, so poor trophy hygiene can ruin the effect of even the best taxidermy. Like any other piece of expensive decorative artwork, a trophy should be kept and handled the same way one would treat a fine, valuable painting.

After a trophy has been damaged by sun exposure or the effect of time on poorly-done taxidermy, there’s not much that beginning taxidermy hobbyists or laypeople can do, aside from re-gluing the occasional lost eye. Fortunately, however, there are professionals who have a lot of experience in restoring old, museum-quality taxidermy pieces and antique heirloom trophies, and are able to fix some common problems old mounts run into. Cracked or split hides can be re-glued, and sun-faded fur can be dyed back to its original color. However, many of these fixes are complicated, time-consuming, and expensive, and well worth avoiding if at all possible.There’s also a limit to how many times a hide can be dyed or glued, so the longer a trophy can go between needing maintenance, the better.

Taking proper care of a mounted trophy is fairly intuitive. Excessive handling, sunlight, head, and wetness can cause the hide and fur to degrade, so they should be avoided. Keeping this in mind will allow you to appreciate your fine trophies for decades, without having to resort to expensive refurbishing or repairs.